


Implications

by BubbaKnowlton



Series: Doctor and Lizard space dads [2]
Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: Kidfic, M/M, garak is lonely and gay, odo just wants to be a dad, pre Julian Bashir/Elim Garak/Odo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-08-19
Packaged: 2019-06-29 20:04:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15736428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BubbaKnowlton/pseuds/BubbaKnowlton
Summary: Scared of Julian, Garak’s seven year old son demands that he marry Constable Odo instead of dating the doctor, and makes Garak realize just how lonely he is on the station.-“No, and in the state you’ve put me in, I doubt I will ever be able to.” It really was ridiculous, that a seven year old could make him realize he was hopelessly in love with one man and intrigued about another.Toran slipped off of the table. “You’re in love with Odo!”“I wouldn’t call it love. Curious, maybe...”“Good! Now you never have to talk to that doctor again!” He really didn’t understand where Toran’s hatred of Julian had come from. It seemed rather sudden, but Toran had always been nervous around the man.





	Implications

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a joke fic where the kid wants Garak to marry Odo n Garak thinks that's wild but then i realized odo/garak is Also Good so now its garashir but a prequel to garashir/odo because poly ships are good and fun and i will be writing a sequel to this for that

**Implications**

“Yadik-” Garak barely managed to hold back another heaving sigh as a small hand tugged on his sleeve for the second time that evening, making him mess up the shirt he was sewing. He grabbed his seam-ripper. “Yadik?”

Children could be a nuisance, truly, but he’d known that Toran would be this way. All of Mila’s stories about how troublesome he was as a child had served as a warning that any child of his would be the same way.

All he needed to do was indulge the boy for a minute or two, and he would return to the memory training program Garak had managed to get for him. “What is it, my dear?”

“You remember what I asked you earlier, Yadik?”

Distinctively. Even if Cardassians didn’t have such good memory, he would still be reliving the memory at the mention of it. Even after an hour, he was just as ruffled from what the boy had suggested the last time he tugged at his sleeve as he was when it first left the boy’s mouth.

He nodded. “Yes, clearly. You asked me why I choose to spend my time with Doctor Bashir, and then told me I should pursue relations with Constable Odo.” He’d half expected it to be some joke, possibly arranged by Commander Dax, but Toran had been entirely serious.

Toran nodded solemnly. “I did as you asked.”

He’d told him to go back to the padd the program was on, but instead, Toran had spent the better part of an hour out of the shop. What could the boy have thought he’d asked? It came to him, and he dropped his tools. A Bajoran customer looking at a dress glanced at him, but then turned back to inspecting the clothing.

“Toran! You went to the Constable?” Odo would hate him, especially if Toran worded it in a way that made it seem like it was his suggestion, even though he had told the boy that if he were to consider pursuing relations with the Constable he would want to know how Odo felt about it. It was entirely un-Cardassian to go and ask outright, and Toran had done just that. He was failing in raising his son properly if Toran didn’t understand the basics of subtlety at his age. How could he have let this happen?

The boy accompanied him on his lunches with Julian enough that he should have known what proper Cardassian courting was. Toran knew of his intent for the doctor, but he’d gotten it into his head that Odo was a better match for him, for reasons Garak hadn’t been able to pry out of him earlier.

“Why are you upset?” Toran frowned. “I asked him, just as you said to!”

“My dear... As a proper Cardassian, you have to master the art of-”

“Auntie Dax said it’s better to just ask people how they feel!” Toran interrupted. “And how are you supposed to know how Odo feels about you if you never ask him?”

“Don’t call Commander Dax that, it’s improper. You are not her nephew.” Federation ideas were being fed to Toran’s highly impressionable young mind. He needed to keep a better eye on him. What was he thinking, allowing him to wander around? Mila had been right to drag him home and whack him whenever he went exploring where he shouldn’t. Toran mumbled an agreement, and he continued, “And there are many ways to find out without being so blatantly obvious. You must pay more attention during my discussions with Doctor Bashir, you’ll learn a lot.”

“But I don’t like Doctor Bashir! He’s scary! I like Odo! Marry him instead!”

Did he have to shout that? The customer was openly staring, and Garak could hardly believe how shameless a child could be. The shout had riled Toran up, and he put his hands on his shoulders to calm him. “My dear, don’t be so loud.”

“I hate Bashir! Stop dating him!” His voice didn’t lower at all, and he clenched his little fists.

“I am not dating Doctor Bashir, my dear, wherever did you get that idea?” He’d told Toran he intended to date Julian, but that they weren’t a couple yet, which was the truth.

“Good! Marry Odo!”

Would it be so wrong to cover Toran’s mouth, smother him with the half mended shirt until the humiliation of this passed? Mila would have whacked him upside the head if he’d tried something like this as a child. However, Toran responded poorly to even friendly jabs by Julian and Chief O’Brien, so he wouldn’t do that. It left him with very few options.

A firm but quiet explanation would have to do. “My dear, I have no desire to marry Constable Odo. What gave you the impression that I would want to be in a relationship with him?”

“You eat breakfast with him.”

“Eating a meal with him occasionally does not mean I am romantically attracted to him.”

“You eat lunch once a week with Doctor Bashir, and you’re attracted to him!”

“I am not attracted to Doctor Bashir.” Toran frowned even more at the lie, unaware of the customer that was still in the shop. Why couldn’t they leave so he could sit Toran down and firmly explain things at a normal volume without lying more than he needed to? “There is more to romance than eating together.”

“Conversation and debate.” Toran did know some Cardassian tradition, at least. He’d managed to teach the boy that much in the short time he’d lived on the station. “You talk together during breakfast.”

That much was true. “It would be rude to be silent. Talking during a meal is very important to Cardassians, my dear. Eating together is as much about the discussion as it is the food.”

“Odo told me that when he was sick, you stayed with him the whole time. You like Doctor Bashir because he did that for you when you were ill!”

Great guls, there really were a lot of similarities, now that Toran brought it up. It almost made him wonder why he was pursuing Bashir instead of Odo. If he was in a relationship with Odo, not only would he get opportunity and protection from the Federation, but he would also get it from Bajor and the Dominion.

He couldn’t let that distract him. It would only encourage Toran. “Ah, my dear, you’ve forgotten. I want my partner to enjoy the things I do. Constable Odo has no interest in fashion or literature.”

“Aunt-” Toran caught himself, “- _Commander_ Dax told me Odo really enjoys reading! He likes mystery novels. You keep giving Doctor Bashir enigma tales, but he doesn’t like that they’re all guilty. Maybe Odo would like to read one!”

Intriguing, but Toran didn’t need to keep being so loud. He put a finger on the boy’s lips. “There is no need to yell. I understand there are a few similarities between how I spend my time with Bashir and Odo, but they are just my friends.” Really, he needed to keep Toran in the shop more. Not only would he be able to keep an eye on him, but he was very insistent, and a customer would be hard pressed to deny him if he was a salesperson.

“But, Yadik-”

“I promise I will talk to the Constable tomorrow.” To apologize for Toran’s boldness, but the boy didn’t need to know that. “Go back to your studies. Education-”

“-is power!” Cheered up by the assurance, Toran smiled, and went to find the padd.

Garak finally let himself sigh, and made eye contact with the customer, who flushed and looked away, ashamed at having been caught staring. He really needed to work on teaching Toran proper public conduct, or else the whole station would be hearing about how his son thought he should marry the security chief.

-

“So, I heard you and Constable Odo have tied the knot.”

A curious idiom he hadn’t heard before, but Garak assumed that it meant two people getting into a relationship. He huffed, crossing his arms.

How had Julian heard about that so soon? There was no way that one customer from yesterday had managed to spread it all the way to the senior staff so quickly. Unless, perhaps, they had spread the word to someone in Quark’s, where the Ferengi would have passed it on to Jadzia, who was just as terrible a gossip as him.

Or perhaps Odo himself had told his friends about whatever Toran had said to him yesterday. He hadn’t gotten the chance yet to apologize for Toran’s indecent behavior.

The doctor looked rather amused by the rumor, leaning forward in his seat and grinning, so Garak pretended to be disappointed that he knew. “We were really hoping to keep it a secret until after...” What was the charming human word? Ah- “...our honeymoon, but I suppose I can’t fault Toran for talking about it in public. He was just so excited, the little darling.”

“I hear Risa is wonderful this time of year. You and the Constable should go there. I would be glad to watch Toran for you while you’re gone. Although, I must say, I’m hurt that I wasn’t invited to the wedding.”

“A wonderful idea, I’ll discuss it with Odo as soon as I see him. My sincerest apologizes for not inviting you, my dear Doctor, but we wanted something private, and I couldn’t let you ruin it with your horrible sense of fashion.”

“I understand. I would love to hear about it though, unless it was just signing forms...?”

“No, we had a very small ceremony. Toran wore the most darling little suit, which I created, of course, and I convinced Odo to shapeshift into a tuxedo. Captain Sisko was kind enough to officiate for us, and Major Kira was our witness, as Odo’s closest friend.”

Julian had begun laughing as soon as he mentioned Odo in a tuxedo, and Garak smiled, glad to entertain. It took a while for Julian to calm down enough to speak. He thought the doctor would move on to the next topic, perhaps to discuss the enigma tale Garak had lent him, but he didn’t. “Are you upset it wasn’t a proper Cardassian wedding?”

“A little, but Toran and I wore traditional clothing, and then I opened that nice bottle of kanar I had saved in my quarters. I let him have his first taste to celebrate.”

“And did he like it?”

Toran had actually taken a long sip from the bottle a few days ago, upon waking late in the night and wanting a drink. Unable to reach the replicator and ask for water, he’d searched the room for something. He’d woken up Garak when he started coughing, and had made a mess of himself, getting kanar all over his shirt and hands.

So Garak wasn’t lying when he answered, “It was a bit too strong for him, though he didn’t seem to mind the taste.”

“Poor boy.”

“I think his next taste of kanar will have to come from Quark’s. It’s watered down, so he’ll be able to drink it without coughing.” That made Julian laugh again.

As Julian fought to subdue his laughter, Garak let himself think about what kind of wedding he would like. Should the doctor ever return his feelings, he wouldn’t mind a ceremony with Cardassian traditions. He and Toran would indeed wear traditional clothing, and he would make something nice for Julian to wear. They could invite some of Julian’s friends, and if they were still on the station, Sisko would officiate.

Though, he found himself wondering what Odo might look like in the same scenario. He’d mostly just said what came to mind for his brief tale, but now that he thought about it, such a small ceremony didn’t seem all that bad, and Odo would look nice in a proper suit.

Oh, Toran had ruined him. He’d never seen the Constable in such a light before, but now he was imagining marrying him just as easily as he did Julian! It was ridiculous. Neither man was likely to wed him, and he’d spent the past few years flirting with the doctor, trying to woo him, so why was he suddenly thinking of Odo the same way?

He was lonely, there was nothing else to it. He hadn’t had a romantic partner in years, and now that he had a child to raise, he was desperate for someone to be his mate. _You’re hopeless, Elim,_ he scolded himself, _wanting two men that would never feel the same._

“Do you ever think about getting married, Garak?”

 _Yes,_ he wanted to say, but that would be too indecent. “Why, my dear Doctor, I’ve just married the Constable. There’s no reason to think of that anymore, not when I have a loving husband.”

“And Toran is happy with his new stepfather?”

“Oh, yes. Odo simply adores him, and Toran loves him.”

“Well, then, congratulations, Garak.” Julian lifted up his cup of tea. “To your marriage- may it be long and prosperous.” Garak lifted his cup, and Julian clinked them together.

“Prosperous, my dear?”

“Of course. I know how important family is to Cardassians. I’m sure you’ll have many children together. All sorts of gooey little Cardassians to wreck havoc about the station.”

Children! What a thought. Though it was impossible, of course, he couldn’t help but try to imagine what such a hybrid would look like. A shapeshifter, obviously, but would they try to look like him, or would they mimic their father’s Bajoran form? He’d once wondered what a child between him and Julian would look like, something genetically possible, but what about between he and Odo? What kind of fantasy would they create?

If Julian noticed his silence, he didn’t say. “But Toran might get jealous. I’m sure he’s happy being an only child.”

“Quite.”

“That was fun. I’ve gotten to the court scene in the book you lent me, but there’s a few things I don’t understand about the Cardassian legal system-”

-

Great guls, what had he gotten himself into? Garak slumped against the door of his shop. Toran looked up from where he was using his padd in the center of the shop, sitting on the table. There was an empty plate and cup next to him. “Hello, Yadik.”

“Hello, darling. Oh, my dear, you’ve ruined me.”

“How so? Have you talked to Odo?” He looked hopeful, setting down his padd and straightening up.

“No, and in the state you’ve put me in, I doubt I will ever be able to.” It really was ridiculous, that a seven year old could make him realize he was hopelessly in love with one man and intrigued about another.

Toran slipped off of the table. “You’re in love with Odo!”

“I wouldn’t call it love. Curious, maybe...”

“Good! Now you never have to talk to that doctor again!” He really didn’t understand where Toran’s hatred of Julian had come from. It seemed rather sudden, but Toran had always been nervous around the man.

It was a welcome distraction from his feelings. “Darling, why do you dislike Doctor Bashir?”

“He’s a bad person!”

Julian had been nothing but kind to Toran, offering support and friendship ever since he had come on board the station. Toran joined the two of them for lunch almost every week, and Julian had always made sure to include him in their conversations. But then his outburst yesterday, as well as his refusal to see the man today...

Had Toran noticed something he hadn’t? “He’s a kind man, my dear.”

“Exactly!” The shock on his face from the agreement must have showed, because Toran jumped into an explanation. “He’s only so nice to me because he’s planning something bad!”

Riled up once more, Toran’s voice had risen. Garak gave him a placating smile, taking Toran’s hands in his own. “He’s nice to you because you are a child.”

Stressed, the boy squeezed his hands. “No! That’s not how it works! People are nice to you all the time when they’re going to hurt you!”

Toran had had a large scar on his cheek, among other places, when he’d first come on board. Perhaps he was finally getting a clue about what had happened to his son while they were separated due to his exile. “Bashir is a doctor, he would never hurt a child.”

“Then he’s just nice to me so he can hurt you! If you marry Odo we won’t have to worry about anyone!”

“The Constable is very strong, but he doesn’t have any reason to protect us specifically.”

“He’s a good person! He’s not all nice all the time- you can trust him!” Toran had started trembling, shaking like a leaf. Garak lifted him up to hold him. 

“Don’t be so upset, my dear. You have nothing to worry about. I would never let anyone hurt you.” He pressed their foreheads together, and waited for the shaking to subside. He pulled his head back and added, “Besides, I’m not romantically involved with Doctor Bashir. I won’t marry him, so there’s no need for me to marry Odo.”

“Odo said you were dating him, and Bashir calls you his boyfriend.”

“Does he?” No, now wasn’t the time to be happy about that. Toran was genuinely afraid of Julian, and he needed to focus on remedying that. If they really were partners, then it would be simple to ask Julian to take on a more fatherly role towards Toran. Being more firm and disciplinary towards him would make him trustworthy in Toran’s eyes. “I suppose we have moved on from our courtship stage... Which is why you must understand that you do not need to be afraid of him.”

“You can’t trust him!”

“I don’t, my dear. I don’t expect you to either.” He would never do something so dangerous as teaching his son to trust people. “You must never trust anyone. Not Doctor Bashir, not Odo, no one.”

“Not even you?”

“No.” Toran leaned his head against his throat. “Now, let’s run a quick errand before I open the shop again.”

-

Garak managed to catch sight of Julian before he vanished back into the infirmary, and called out to him, “Julian!”

The use of his first name made Julian stop and turn. Toran stiffened, clutching his shirt. He made a low sound in his throat, a small whimper. Garak rubbed his arm to soothe him as he approached the doctor.

“Garak. Is something wrong with Toran?”

“Yes, very much.”

Julian stepped closer to get a better look at him. “I’ll take him to sickbay.”

He waved him off. “It is not a medical issue, my dear. Toran, why don’t you tell Julian what you told me?” He set Toran on his feet, prying his hands loose. Toran immediately clung to his legs, whimpering again. “Darling, please.” He tried to pull him off without hurting him, but it was useless to try, so he stopped.

“Did something happen while we were on our lunch date?”

A little thrill went through him at that, but Toran squeezing his arms around him tighter erased that. He wasn’t going to be explaining the issue himself. Garak would have to. “Nothing has happened, just a realization. Toran admitted to me that the reason he wants me to date the Constable instead of you is because he is afraid of you.”

He didn’t protest that they were dating, so it seemed Toran had been correct. Julian frowned. “Afraid of me? Why? Have I done something wrong?”

“Not at all. That, however, is the issue, my dear. You see, Toran believes that you wish him harm because you have been nothing but kind to him. He doesn’t trust you.”

Confused, Julian clarified, “He doesn’t trust me... because I’m nice to him?”

Garak nodded. “Exactly. I’m not sure why he believes that anyone that is exclusively kind to him intends to hurt him, but he does. You’ll have to stop.”

“Well, I’m not going to be mean to him. Toran, I would never hurt you. I’m a doctor, I’ve taken an oath to do no harm.” Julian put a hand on his arm, keeping his voice low and gentle. “Do you believe me?”

That only further upset Toran, and he pulled away, revealing eyes full of tears. “No! You’re lying!”

“Darling, don’t raise your voice like that,” Garak scolded. He tried to pick him up again, but the child dodged his hands. “Toran...”

Sniffling, Toran slowly backed away. After a few steps, he bumped into someone’s legs. Looking up, he could see it was the Constable, eyeing him curiously. Toran turned around and clung to him. “Odo...!”

“What’s the matter, Toran? I heard you yelling.” After hearing the boy whimper, Odo lifted him up. “You look frightened.”

“He’s scared of me,” Julian offered as explanation. Odo raised a brow in question. “Because I’m... nice to him? I don’t really get it. Garak?”

Odo looked at the tailor pointedly, waiting. Garak tongue darted out to wet his lips, and he looked from Julian to Odo before giving a small frown and answering, “He doesn’t trust people that are overly friendly. I suppose too much unearned kindness rings false.”

“Is that why he came into my office and demanded that I... pursue relations with you? He trusts me more than Doctor Bashir?” Toran tucked his head under Odo’s chin, making a low chirping sound.

Demanded. Garak was going to have a long talk about subtlety with Toran once this was settled. “It would seem to be so. And Constable, I sincerely apologize for Toran’s behavior yesterday. It was completely unbefitting of a proper Cardassian. I had no idea he was going to go speak to you so indecently- it will not happen again.”

“It made my meeting with my deputies rather interesting, but it’s quite alright.”

Great, all of station security had witnessed it. Garak would never be able to look any of them in the eye again.

“As I said yesterday, Toran, I’m flattered that you would want me as a stepfather, and will gladly be your friend, but you should get used to Doctor Bashir. He won’t hurt you, and he’ll do his best to be a good parent.”

“Promise?”

“I’m a changeling, I don’t lie.” Odo’s good word seemed to do the trick, and Toran calmed down. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve, straightening up. Once he’d settled, Odo waved a finger in front of him. “Don’t yell on the Promenade. It disturbs the peace.”

“I’m sorry...”

“Just a reminder. I have to get back to work, so I can’t keep holding you.”

“Can I go with you? Yadik, may I go with him?”

“Well...” Odo started.

Garak cut him off, “Of course you may, if the Constable is willing to take you. You know, Toran, on Cardassia, it is tradition for a parent to take their children with them to their place of work. You’ve been in the shop every day watching me toil away, this will be a good change of pace.” Toran caught his implication that Odo was a father figure Garak approved of, and smiled. “Tomorrow, perhaps, you can accompany Doctor Bashir.”

Toran would see Julian being serious and professional in sickbay, and that would strengthen their relationship. He’d tell Toran to try to help out as much as possible, to explore and learn, so Julian would have to scold him for putting his hands on dangerous tools.

“That sounds like it’ll be fun!” Julian agreed.

“I suppose I could bring him with me for a while. If I have to arrest anyone, you are not to get involved. Understand?”

“I understand!”

Odo put Toran down and took his hand. “I’ll drop him off at your shop later, Garak.”

“I’ll be there.” To Toran, he said, “Listen to the Constable and stay safe, darling.”

“Yes, Yadik!”

The two of them walked off, Toran chattering away to Odo. Garak watched until they disappeared around the bend, and turned back to Bashir. “We split custody of him.”

“Already divorced?”

“Oh, no. We’ve yet to be married. After Toran was born during the occupation, we agreed that I would be the one to take custody of him, until he was older and could handle going back and forth between us. Odo was much too busy as security chief under Cardassian rule to raise an infant, but a tailor has much more time for child rearing.”

“A Cardassian-Changeling hybrid, I never would have guessed. My medical training has failed me if I can’t even identify one boy’s species correctly. Well, even though I’m clearly unqualified, I must return to sickbay. My lunch hour is up, and Jabara will be upset if I’m late.”

Julian went to take off, but hesitated. Garak tilted his head, and then smiled as Julian gave him a kiss on the cheek.

-

Toran insisted on grabbing every tool he saw, and Julian barely managed to keep him from slicing his hand with a surgical laser. “Stop grabbing things!”

Completely oblivious to the fact that he’d almost injured himself _again,_ Toran reached for it once more and asked, “What does that one do?”

Julian held it up out of reach. “It’s a surgical laser, very dangerous. Don’t touch it. Don’t touch anything, or I’m going to give you back to your yadik,” he threatened.

“He’s busy today.”

“Then I will tell Odo to take you.”

Toran turned away, and then tried to pick up a scalpel by the blade. Julian grabbed his wrist. On instinct, Toran bit him. He yanked his hand away, yelping. They glared at each other, and Toran huffed and told him, “I didn’t touch it. You can’t make me leave.”

He’d mostly gotten over his fear after a few hours of having tools snatched away from him, Julian noticed, but that didn’t matter. What mattered was that he’d promised Garak that his son would remain healthy and unharmed until the evening, when he would return the boy, and it was becoming increasingly difficult to keep that promise. It was like Toran wanted to get his hands sliced apart or burned.

“Don’t bite people!”

“You grabbed me! I got scared!”

“Just- stay right there. I’ll get you a book to read.”

“Why won’t you let me do anything? Odo and Yadik let me help them work!” Toran wandered towards the computer console. Julian grabbed his shoulders and guided him away from it, forcing him to hop up onto a biobed and sit. As soon as he stepped away to go find a padd, Toran slipped off and went for the nearest tool he could find.

Julian scooped him up, holding him under one arm. Toran went limp, making a sad little squeak. “Sewing is a good skill to learn, but what does Odo let you do?”

“I put a pair of handcuffs on a criminal!”

“Who was the criminal?”

“Mr. O’Brien.”

Julian froze. “ _What?_ ” He had seen Miles that morning. There was no way Toran was telling the truth. Still, he was curious to know what Toran would come up with.

“He almost got in a fight with an Andorian. Odo put them into cells for an hour until they calmed down.”

“What were they fighting about?”

“I don’t know. Odo wouldn’t let me go into the bar.” He squirmed, trying to get free. Julian set him back on the biobed, and held him in place. “Yadik told me to learn a lot while I was here.”

So Garak had told him to be as bothersome as possible. Julian sighed. “I’ll let you explore, but don’t touch anything without permission.”

He let him go, and finally, he didn’t immediately try to hurt himself. Toran looked up at him, clasping his hands on his lap. “Will you talk to me while you work?”

“Alright. What do you want to talk about?”

“How come Yadik didn’t know you two were dating until I told him you were yesterday?”

If there was one thing Toran was good at, it was stunning him. He had a perfectly neutral tone of delivery, a look of genuine curiosity on his face. It almost made him believe him. But there was no way that was true. It was obvious that he and Garak were dating. How could Garak not notice? They went on dates, and sure, they hadn’t kissed until yesterday, but he’d assumed that was because Garak didn’t want to, not in public nor in front of a child. Cardassians were very private, and neither of them ever had time for privacy.

But Toran was looking up at him, waiting for a response, so he wasn’t so sure that it was a lie. He’d never called Garak his boyfriend to his face, only to his friends, and they’d never called their lunches or holosuite visits dates before. Yesterday was the first time Garak had used his first name, and he’d looked at him oddly after saying that they were dating, almost like he expected him to refute it.

“He really didn’t know?”

“Yadik said you were still courting. Odo was the one who told me, when I told him to marry Yadik. He really likes you, so it made him happy, but he didn’t believe it until we talked to you yesterday.”

“I thought we’d been dating for months!”

“Aren’t humans supposed to be obvious when they’re dating? Yadik was hoping you would... ask... what’s it called?”

“Ask him out?” Toran nodded as his little universal translator repeated it in kardasi to him. “I was trying to follow Cardassian custom! Asking out loud is- it’s-”

“-indecent. You’re right! It would have been embarrassing!”

“You went and demanded that Odo marry your father.”

“I thought Yadik had implied that I should do that...” Toran looked down at the floor. “I’m not very good at implications yet.”

The reasoning for that was something to ponder later. “I’m sure you’ll learn. But... do you know a lot about Cardassian customs?”

“I’m not helping you date Yadik!” Toran balled his fists. “I like Odo more!”

“He can date us both, Toran, don’t worry.” He doubted that Garak had feelings like that for the Constable, but it wouldn’t do to hurt Toran’s feelings and crush his hopes. He didn’t want to discourage Toran from seeing someone as a parental figure when he needed more than one adult to depend on. Odo deserved another chance at being a father-figure after the infant changeling had perished. It’d made them both happy.

“Both?” Toran echoed, eyes widening. “Really?”

“Yes. It’s not that uncommon, polygamy.” The UT translated, but Toran frowned, unsure of what the word meant. “Having multiple partners is a part of a lot of cultures. I’m not sure what it’s like for Cardassia, but I personally don’t mind the idea.” It was weird, imagining Garak and Odo as a couple, but those two never talked about their feelings, so he couldn’t say whether or not it was impossible.

Toran certainly seemed to think there was chemistry. “Oh. Is there anyone else you would date besides Yadik?”

“Well, ah...” Toran would likely tell Garak, so he decided not to name the person. He wasn’t sure if Toran knew Miles was the chief’s first name, but it wouldn’t be hard for Garak to figure out who his son was talking about. “There’s one person, but I’m pretty sure he’s monogamous... Ah, only taking one partner, is what that means.”

“I could just tell him! Commander Dax was right. It may be indecent, but I asked, and now Yadik is dating you and likes Odo. I’m a kid, so it’s okay.”

Sending Toran up to Miles to ask if he and Keiko would be interested in having an open relationship would only go horribly, he was sure. He wasn’t going to ruin their friendship by letting his future stepson do that.

“I don’t think he would believe you.”

“Oh.” Toran thought for a moment, and then asked, “Will you tell Yadik you’re okay with him marrying Odo? I don’t think he’ll do it unless you tell him what he told me.”

“It wouldn’t be indecent?”

“You’re dating, it won’t be, as long as I’m not there.”

“The next time you’re with Odo, I’ll talk about it with him. Now- did Miles really get arrested yesterday?”

Toran nodded. “Just ask Odo if you don’t believe me.”

He would. It was almost time for his lunch hour, so they would have to make a quick stop at the security office to see if he was there. If not, they could always find Miles and ask him.

**Author's Note:**

> yes, Miles did get arrested for an hour.  
> Follow/talk to me on Tumblr: @oblio-k


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